The Realm of Heaven and Humanity (The Dilemma and Choice of Chinese and Western Philosophy)

Author: Zhang Shiyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-05-01
Features: The author believes that there are two fundamental attitudes or relationships between humans and the world: one is the subject-object dichotomy, and the other is the unity of heaven and man (referring to the indistinction between subject and object, and the fusion of matter and self). Traditional Chinese philosophy is dominated by the unity of heaven and man, while traditional Western philosophy is dominated by the subject-object dichotomy. This book takes this as its framework to discuss the development of Chinese and Western philosophy, their respective characteristics, and places the major schools of thought in Chinese and Western philosophy within the same historical river of human thought for a longitudinal examination. From this, it focuses on two issues: where is Chinese philosophy heading? and what is the purpose of philosophy? The book is divided into three parts: "History," "Theory," and "Philosophy and Philosophers." The first and second parts directly address and reflect on these two issues, while the third part, "Philosophy and Philosophers," examines and comparatively studies important schools and philosophers in the history of Chinese and Western philosophy, primarily along the lines of the subject-object dichotomy and the unity of heaven and man, thereby providing concrete arguments for the aforementioned issues. The author argues that Western contemporary philosophy, dissatisfied with the traditional subject-object dichotomy, has given rise to a trend similar to the unity of heaven and man in China, as well as the combination of philosophy and poetry. Meanwhile, Chinese philosophy, with a profound tradition of the unity of heaven and man, is calling for the subject-object dichotomy and the principle of subjectivity from the West to develop science and promote democracy. Different ideological concepts are colliding between China and the West, and both Chinese and Western philosophy are in a state of confusion and choice. The author discusses the prospects and possibilities of the integration of Chinese and Western philosophy, the combination of the unity of heaven and man and the subject-object dichotomy, from both the actual trends of historical development and the theoretical aspects of philosophy. Additionally, the author proposes a vision for the ideal personality.